I was probably 4 years old when my Dad, the XO of an F-86D squadron at McGuire AFB came ripping down mainstreet of the little town we lived in off base in an F-86 and did a vertical pull and roll.
See, in those halcyon days a Major's family had one old car and Mom had it for shopping that day so this was Dad's way of telling her that he was about done for the day and that we should head to the base and pick him up.
Knew I was going to be an Air Force pilot from that day on, I think.
Did all the things I thought were going to be necessary to get the job and I got a 4 year AFROTC scholarship out of high school.
In college, for fun, I went pre-med because I liked science stuff and I'd always figured my second choice job would be as a vet because I always just loved working with dogs.
In college, the "professor of aerospace studies" found out I was pre-med and tried to make me give up my "1P" (pilot training") rating and send me off to med school. He had the horsepower and the contract had the old "needs of the AF clause" and he could have pulled it off.
But my buddy the supply Sarge clued me in and told me to change my major if I wanted to fly. So I did and I went to UPT.
Loved the AF, loved my job. Hated working under Carter's Defense Department. Had Maintenance Colonel convince me as Aircraft Commander to commit fraud once in a fuel for airplane parts swap with a major airline in order to get necessary parts for our airplane so we could keep flying missions as directed by NSA. They never caught us.
That event made me decide I was done working for Carter. I actually thought he was going to win the election vs Reagan, so I put in my papers. Ha! Reagan won! Had I stayed in, I'd have most likely been a high ranking guy in the RC squadron during Desert Storm. That's about my only regret as far as the AF part goes.
Went to Delta; it was a good job. The lifestyle reads way better than it lives, but it's hard to get folks to believe that. Regrets there are that I spent way too many nights away from home. My kids grew up with a part time Dad and I missed an awful, awful lot of birthdays, holidays, sports events, etc. The luck of the hiring wheel made my class "junior" for a long, long time, so we flew the crap schedules seemingly forever. I had an opportunity to be a training department weenie early on that I turned down. Should have taken it; I'd have been home almost all the time just teaching sims. Probably could have got into the Management Pilot cycle too... but flying a desk still is a major turn off.
I did what I wanted to do though and I'm happy with that.
I'd probably have been just as happy or happier as a Vet though... and could have bought a good airplane. My vet buddies are doing awfully good.
